How to Get Cast on Prime Video’s ‘Off Campus’

“Off Campus” follows Briar University’s elite college ice hockey team and the women in their lives. Season 1 centers on the “opposites attract” romance between quiet songwriter Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and star hockey player Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), which was the focus of Kennedy’s first novel, “The Deal.” Their story begins with a fake dating scheme, but it soon develops into something deeper. Together, they navigate love, heartbreak, and self-discovery while forming lasting friendships and relationships.

Season 1 also introduced the rest of the hockey players, whose stories anchor later books in Kennedy’s series. It’s an approach quite similar to another hit book-to-screen adaptation, “Bridgerton.” Season 2 will break from the book series’ order, focusing on Dean (Stephen Kalyn) and Allie’s (Mika Abdalla) love story, which doesn’t technically come into play until Book 3, “The Score,” but was teased in this viral meet-cute scene from Episode 5.

Season 1 of “Off Campus” featured:

• Ella Bright as Hannah Wells
• Belmont Cameli as Garrett Graham
• Antonio Cipriano as John Logan
• Stephen Kalyn as Dean Di Laurentis
• Jalen Thomas Brooks as John Tucker
• Mika Abdalla as Allie Hayes
• Josh Heuston as Justin Kohl
• Khobe Clarke as Beau Maxwell
• Steve Howey as Phil Graham
• Charlie Evans as Hunter Davenport

Additional recurring cast members include Austin A.J. Abell, Francesca Bianchi, Kai Bradbury, Karis Cameron, Josh Chambers, Riley Davis, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Quinten James, Dylan Kingwell, Riley Orr, Lauren Patten, Frankie Randysek, Brandon Scott, Jennifer Spence, Julia Sarah Stone, Marlee Walchuk, and Chad Willett.

Deanna Brigidi (“The Rainmaker,” “We Were Liars”) and Andrea Bunker (“Big Little Lies,” “War Machine”) are the casting directors behind “Off Campus” and its steamy ensemble.

When adapting her books for television, Kennedy’s primary concern was maintaining the familiarity these characters conveyed in her books. “My biggest requirement was, I really want to keep the vibe of the series, so what people [felt] when they were reading the books, I want them to feel it [from the show]. That is focusing on the dynamics with the characters, the relationships, the banter, the bromance, Hannah and Allie’s best friendship and how supportive they are,” Kennedy told Deadline. “These characters are special,” she said. “It’s like a found family. They love each other. They rag on each other. That’s the same vibe I wanted. I wanted people who watch the show to feel like they are at Briar U and they are friends with these people.”

For many of Prime Video’s “Off Campus” stars, getting a part meant auditioning for the wrong role first. As Abdalla, who plays Allie, told Us Weekly, she initially auditioned for Hannah. “I just knew that wasn’t right. Everybody knew that wasn’t right. Then, when I heard they wanted to bring me back for Allie and I finally got a hold of the scripts, I was like, ‘This is right.’ Everything just fell into place in a really good way,” she said.

Instead, Bright landed the role of Hannah. “None of this was in my plan at all,” she told Vanity Fair. In fact, Bright was on the verge of pausing her acting career when she got the call. “It flipped my life upside down in the best way I could have ever dreamed about. Things are coming true for me that… I never thought it could happen.”

But even she approached Hannah wrong at first, she says. “I think for my initial self-tape, I played her very introverted and shy, because I thought, She’s a stereotypical nerdy character. But I soon discovered she has this confidence in her quirkiness and her ugliness and her weirdness, and I loved that. It was really fresh and new.”

Bright also noted that the ensemble really came together during chemistry reads. “What I initially saw at the chemistry reads is that not only were they auditioning Garrett and Hannah, they were auditioning every single person that we see in the ensemble cast: the whole hockey team and Allie and Justin. And that showed that, from the beginning, it’s not just the romantic relationships that are at the forefront of the show,” Bright said. “At the end of the day, it is all about friendship and connection and how these different relationships are so formative.”

Kalyn, who plays Dean, also auditioned for another role—Logan, which ultimately went to Cipriano. “It’s interesting how the casting process works, because I see why I didn’t get the part,” he told Bustle. “And then Dean came along, and I was like, ‘OK, that seems more up my alley.’ ” Now, he and Cipriano both agree they’re exactly who they should be.

Brooks echoed the sentiment. “I think everybody ended up in the roles that they were supposed to do,” he said. “It was funny; it was a really long casting process. We did chemistry reads and everything.... I can’t picture anybody else doing anything.”

Filming for “Off Campus” Season 2 began on June 1, 2026, and will continue through Sept. 18, 2026. While there’s no definitive date for the show’s return, its production schedule suggests a mid-2027 premiere.

There are no open auditions for “Off Campus” at this time, but since the show films in Vancouver, Canada, you might want to check out our roundup of Canadian gigs that are casting now. We also recommend bookmarking our main casting page for easy access to the latest casting calls as they become available. You might also want to check out our guide on how to audition for Prime Video as you prepare.

Many actors begin their careers in theater, but having done both, Cipriano can assure his fellow thespians that stage and screen are nothing alike. But that doesn’t mean one medium can’t enhance your performance in another. 

“In the theater, you are feeding off a live audience,” he told BuzzFeed. “In TV and film, there's this intimacy, where your only audience is your scene partner. You have to allow yourself to lock in and be so cognizant and listen so deeply to the other actor.” 

It’s that experience that’s helped Cipriano look at characters from multiple perspectives. “Having a theater background has helped immensely going into TV and film, where everything is so in the moment,” Cipriano noted. “Especially when doing multiple takes of a scene, you can give it a different energy or feeling, giving the director multiple options.” 

This outlook will surely come in handy in the audition room as you work to take the casting team’s notes and apply them on the spot.

But as Abdalla told The Hollywood Reporter, it’s important to step back and remember who you are. You don’t want to get swept away by your successes (or failures), but you also don’t have to have everything figured out either.

“I always like to find a little piece of myself in every character that I play. If I read a script and get a feeling like, ‘I know this person. I know this girl.’ It took me a while to realize that you don’t just move out of the house and become a fully functional, adult, formed person,” she says. “[I’m] OK with not having it all figured out.”